The Washington Post | When a person using Amazon’s voice assistant in Germany requested to listen to his archive of recordings, he got much more than he was expecting. Along with receiving his own audio history captured by a home microphone, the user also gained access to 1,700 audio files from a person he did not know. Amazon sent the man a link that contained a stranger’s recordings, allowing him to listen to another man speaking inside his home with a female companion.

Computerworld | The company issued a rare emergency security update to fix a zero-day vulnerability — reported by a Google security engineer — in the still-supported IE9, IE10, and IE11.

TechRepublic | Attempts to mitigate the landmark vulnerabilities have caused crashes, sudden reboots, and performance degradations. Here's the progress report on the Spectre and Meltdown solution.

MacRumors | Apple is preparing to launch a new fifth-generation iPad mini in the first half of 2019, according to sources in the Apple supply chain cited by the China Times, followed by a new entry-level iPad in two versions.

Inc. | These tricks will have you maneuvering around the popular messaging app like a pro.

Medium | Here are some tricks to keep your efficiency at your highest.

InformationWeek | "IT, short of course for information technology, is an old-school title in a new school world. It incites the same quiet rage as calling a human resources professional 'personnel' or an executive assistant a 'secretary.' It’s just not what we do anymore. IT calls to mind botched passwords, Internet connection errors, and monitors that don’t work (have you tried turning it on?)," writes Timothy Wenhold.

Wired | The mapping company StreetCred wants to pay a volunteer mapping army in cryptocurrency to carry out its data missions.

Smartsheet Blog | No SaaS updates to report today. Instead, here's a helpful post for Smartsheet users.